“Significant coastal erosion along the coastline of Texas is expected due to the rapid strengthening of Hurricane Harvey,” said Joseph Long, USGS Research Oceanographer.

“While the forecasts are subject to change as Harvey approaches land, we are making these forecasts to help inform emergency managers and communities on the potential coastal erosion hazards to be prepared for during the storm.”

According to the USGS, the Coastal Change Forecast model is also projecting that 65 percent of Texas’s coastline will experience a more severe level of erosion hazard, called "dune overwash," particularly north of Corpus Christi up to the Galveston area.

As waves and surge reach higher than the top of a dune, overwash occurs, often transporting large amounts of sand across coastal environments and roadways, depositing sand inland and causing significant changes to the landscape and possibly impeding transportation routes.

Inundation is the most severe level of coastal damage from a storm and occurs when beaches and dunes are completely and continuously submerged by surge, according to the USGS.

"It is a very hazardous condition, and the beaches will look dramatically different after the storm passes,” Long said.